David Hallberg, Fashionista

Ever since leaping over to the Bolshoi, David Hallberg has become bigger than ballet. First, it was Stephen Colbert dancing with him for late-night comedy. Now, the fashion world has fallen for Hallberg's compelling mix of classical elegance and peculiar eccentricities. The South Dakota native has played muse to the likes of Annie Leibovitz in Vogue, and he took up a 12-page feature in the latest issue of Carine Roitfield's splashy CR Fashion Book. in the Sunday Styles section this weekend, Hallberg tells The New York Times' Alex Hawgood, “I’ve always questioned the way dancers, myself included, must do the same role year in and year out. It’s important for me to be able to say to myself: ‘O.K., I don’t want to be a prince anymore. I want to put on a leather jockstrap and pose.’ ” He seems eager not only to break out of the prince roles that suit him so perfectly, but also to question what type of person a ballet dancer should be: “Many dancers are content with the repertoire they’re given. Others are dissatisfied but don’t know why. Then there are a few like me that are curious and grab at everything. Can that curiosity thrive in the ballet world or should it exist elsewhere? That’s the eternal question.”